The invention relates to an injection molding machine for processing plastics materials and other plasticisable substances, such as ceramic or pulverulent substances, having a modular structure comprising a plurality of driving groups.
Such modular structure is indeed not known in its entirety from prior art, but it is known from EP 0 576 925 A1, for example, to provide liquid-cooled electrical servomotors within individual driving groups of an injection molding machine, both on the side of the injection molding unit and on the mold-closing side. Indeed, such motors may therefore be optionally used for an injection molding machine, but it is necessary to change the actual connecting elements on the injection molding machine if other drive types are used. In consequence, numerous parts have to be provided, especially in the factory of the manufacturer, in order to construct machines totally in accordance with the wishes of the customers. In addition, this leads to longer delivery times.
On the basis of this prior art, the basic object of the present invention is to provide the structural prerequisites for increased modularity with an injection molding machine of the initially mentioned type, using largely identical component parts.
This object is achieved by an injection molding machine for processing plastics materials having a modular structure comprising a plurality of driving groups. The injection molding machine includes:
a machine base,
a mold closing unit having
a stationary mold carrier connected to the machine base,
a movable mold carrier, which provides a mold clamping chamber between itself and the stationary mold carrier
at least one injection mold, the mold parts of which can be accommodated in the mold clamping chamber on the stationary mold carrier and on the movable mold carrier,
a closing mechanism as a first driving group for moving the movable mold carrier towards the stationary mold carrier and away from said stationary mold carrier so as to close the injection mold, and
force transmitting means for transmitting substantially the closing force from the closing mechanism to the stationary mold carrier,
and an injection molding unit, having
a plasticizing unit, which comprises a plasticizing cylinder and a feeding means, which is accommodated in the plasticizing cylinder, as well as a nozzle mouth on the end face, which mouth lies in an injection axis,
a carrier block, which is disposed on the machine base so as to be displaceable along the injection axis, and on which block the plasticizing unit is detachably mounted,
an injection bridge,
a metering drive for the feeding means of the plasticizing unit as a third driving group, which is connectable to the injection bridge,
at least one nozzle moving drive, which is axis-parallel to the injection axis, as a fourth driving group for moving the nozzle mouth towards the injection mold and away from said mold, and
at least one injecting means, which is axis-parallel to the injection axis, as a fifth driving group for the movement of the feeding means relative to the plasticizing cylinder,
wherein at least one of first driving groups is connectable to the injection molding machine via at least one multifunctional element, which serves as an interface selectively for the connection of at least two different drive types selected from the group consisting of electromechanical drives, hydraulic drives, pneumatic drives, linear motors and electromagnetic drives as the driving group with an otherwise unchanged injection molding machine, whereby space is made available for the driving groups, independently of the particular drive, on the injection molding machine for accommodating each type of drive.
Because of additional structural outlay, possibilities for connection to the parts of the injection molding machine are already provided in the preliminary section, so that the remaining parts of the injection molding machine already satisfy the various requirements of the different drive types, either hydraulically, pneumatically, electromechanically, as a linear motor or electromagnetically. If this additional outlay is provided during construction, this later facilitates the manufacture and reduces the additional outlay for each machine since, without creating greater problems, compliance with the wishes of the individual customers can be achieved. In this respect, the more interfaces are provided for different drive types, the quicker the machine can be delivered. Furthermore, this modularity provides possibilities for the customer himself to optimize the injection molding machine depending on the injection molded product. Thus, for example, for two-color injecting or for a large throughput, it may be advantageous to operate the injection molding unit electrically, while it may be advantageous, because of the speed with a small throughput, to operate the injection molding unit hydraulically. Because of the given modularity, the customer himself can even make the adaptation required for this.
For example, a rotation transmitting element may be provided in the injection bridge, which element is provided so that a rotary motor is connected to the rear end, or a driving wheel can be secured at a different location, so that this element is actuatable via a transmission, In such case, sufficient space is made available for all of the drives on the injection molding machine.
Structural elements may be provided in the injection bridge, which elements are even passive depending on the drive type and are not needed at all, but, on the other hand, they create the possibility of changing the drive type without any problems. In such case, the space required for the different drive types can be achieved when these structural parts, which are required for the different drive typos, can be combined in a very small space.
The movable mold carrier may be provided on the mold closing side, so that both electromechanical drives and hydraulic or pneumatic drives can be connected to the same structural parts. It should not be underestimated here that the structural part has to be prepared in this respect for the various requirements, whereby the tightness for the hydraulics has to be ensured in the same way as the introduction of forces has to be ensured for the electromechanical drive.
Additional advantages are found in the sub-claims.